Chapter 2

Elisabeth Ward POV:

Pregnant. Joy was pregnant. The word echoed in my empty, echoing skull. After five years of marriage, of trying, of hoping, Chase and I hadn't conceived. And this woman, this "simple" waitress, had done it in a matter of months. The irony was a bitter taste in my mouth, burning my throat.

Chase came home a few days after the accident. His eyes were dark, unreadable, like stormy seas. He didn't speak, didn't offer comfort, just walked to me, his presence chilling.

He grabbed my arm roughly, pulling me to him. His touch, once a source of comfort, now felt like a violation. He kissed me, a brutal, possessive act that left me gasping for air. There was no tenderness, no love, only a desperate, almost savage need.

For weeks, he continued. He treated our bed like a battlefield, a place for him to assert a twisted form of dominance. It wasn't about connection, it was about control, about something I didn't understand. I felt like a vessel, emptied of my own desires, my own self. I endured it, hoping, in my desperate, broken way, that this intense, perverse attention was a sign of lingering affection, a twisted path back to us. I was so utterly broken that even this semblance of his presence felt like a desperate lifeline.

I let him do as he pleased, my body a numb shell, my mind a distant observer. I yearned for a flicker of the old Chase, a tender touch, a kind word, but there was none. Only this relentless, unspoken punishment.

Then, a familiar queasiness. A faint lightheadedness. A suspicion bloomed in the barren landscape of my heart, fragile yet persistent.

I snuck out, a stranger in my own home, to a clinic miles away. The confirmation came in a hushed whisper from the doctor. Pregnant. I was pregnant. My own child. A tiny spark of hope ignited within me, a desperate, illogical belief that this baby could fix everything. This could bring Chase back.

I traced the curve of my belly, a faint swell still barely perceptible. My heart pounded with a mixture of fear and a fragile, foolish joy. This was our chance. This was my chance.

I told him that night, my voice trembling with a hope I hadn't felt in weeks. He listened, his face impassive, his eyes still unreadable. A long silence stretched between us, thick with unspoken thoughts.

Then, a flicker in his eyes. Not joy, not even surprise. Something cold, hard, and utterly terrifying. He picked up his phone.

"Bring Elisabeth downstairs," he ordered, his voice devoid of emotion. "Now."

My blood ran cold. "What are you doing, Chase?" I whispered, a prickle of fear starting to crawl up my spine.

He looked at me then, a chillingly calm expression on his face. "An eye for an eye, Elisabeth. You took my child. Now I'll take yours."

"No!" I screamed, a desperate, raw sound. "You can't! This is our baby, Chase! Our baby!"

My throat choked, words caught, trapped. Two of his burly bodyguards stepped forward, their faces blank.

Panic flared. I struggled, clawing at their arms, screaming until my voice tore. "Chase! Please! Don't do this!" My pleas were met with only his cold, unyielding silence. He didn't even look at me. He simply turned his back, his broad shoulders a wall against my desperation.

They dragged me, a struggling, broken doll, to the top of the grand staircase. The polished wood gleamed, reflecting the cold, stark light. I saw his figure at the bottom, a silhouette of betrayal.

Then, a shove. A sickening lurch. I tumbled, each step a brutal impact, a searing pain that ripped through my body. I cried out, a sound that was half scream, half sob, as the world blurred into a kaleidoscope of agony.

A gush of warmth. The sticky, visceral horror of blood. So much blood.

His words, from so long ago, echoed in my fading consciousness: "I'll always be your anchor, Elisabeth. Always." The irony was a cruel, final twist of the knife.

A cold tear, then another, tracked a path through the blood and grime on my face. The reality of it all, sharp and inescapable, finally sank in. He had meant to destroy me. And he had.

When I woke again, the sterile scent of a hospital room filled my nostrils. The fluorescent lights hummed above. My body ached with a dull, pervasive throb. My child was gone. The doctor's words were a distant, muffled echo.

I didn't cry. There were no tears left, only a vast, empty expanse where my soul used to be. A numbness had settled over me, a chilling peace that swallowed all pain.

I called for the maid, my voice surprisingly steady. "Bring me the sandalwood box from my dressing table." She looked at me, her eyes filled with pity, but she obeyed.

Inside, nestled on velvet, lay a blank piece of paper. It was signed, in a bold, confident hand: "Chase Newton." An IOU. A promise, given on my eighteenth birthday, that he would grant my every wish, no matter how big or small.

"Whatever you want, Elisabeth," he had said, his eyes sparkling with youthful adoration. "Anything. Just fill in the blanks."

I looked at the blank space, then at my trembling hand. This was it. The ultimate wish. The end of us. The child, my child, had bought me this clarity. This absolute, undeniable freedom from a man who had murdered my love and my hope. I was Elisabeth Ward again, independent and whole. And I would stay that way.